1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In these years, flat panel display devices each employing a liquid crystal panel are widely used as in-vehicle display devices, such as car navigation systems. Such a flat panel display device is conceivable to be used, for example, as an in-vehicle display that assists driving of a driver by displaying an image outside an automobile taken by a camera mounted on the body of the automobile.
In general, a breakage in a display panel, such as a liquid crystal display device, can be detected by viewing or using a program for electrically detecting the breakage. However, assume, for example, that the display device becomes incapable of normally displaying an image. To determine whether breakage of the display panel or failure of a processing device for controlling the display on the display device has caused the problem, for example, both the display panel and processing device need to be checked, and thus it takes time to determine which part has failed. An in-vehicle system, in particular, is required to have means for easily and quickly identifying the failed part. Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. H05-346587 discloses a technique, in which crack detection electrodes are laid at locations other than places where display electrodes are laid on a transparent substrate forming a liquid crystal display element, and the crack detection electrodes are tested for conductivity to electrically detect the breakage of the liquid crystal display element.
The conventional technique described above needs to additionally provide the crack detection electrodes and additionally requires a circuit and control to test the crack detection electrodes for conductivity, which may increase the size of the device.
For the foregoing reasons, a display device that is capable of easily and quickly detecting the breakage of a display panel without causing an increase in the size of the device.